Fresh Donuts: In Pursuit of Summer

Hello friends and welcome back to another batch of Fresh Donuts! Summer has finally arrived - I’ve already had a few ice cream cones and the roses are finally blooming, it’s a glorious time to be alive! We join our small canine friend, who, as it would happen, is catching wind of that summer feeling too.

My apologies to anyone who doesn’t have the Rocky III training montages seared into their memory. Just know, Carl Weathers, aka Apollo Creed was fast!

Have you had any good donuts lately? I consider research to be a very important part of my creative process. Whenever I get the chance, I head up to Leeds, New York, to go to my favorite little luncheonette, Gracie’s.

In fact, my loved one and I like it so much we planned a small getaway close by - stopping there every day. Thankfully, we don’t live that close, otherwise I’d need a serious workout regimen.

Anyway, we were upstate for a few days, and it mostly rained, but we had a great time regardless. It was nice weather for frogs...

Since art often imitates life, here’s a little autobiographical comic.

Walter (my arch nemesis) lives under the neighbor’s shed – I’ve been patching holes and blockading for years now, but nevertheless, it persists. I’ve been working on a book dummy about this very scenario in an attempt to turn my experiences from tragedy to comedy.

And finally, I should remind you I have a children’s book coming out June 24th. It’s an early graphic reader (aka comic) for kids age 4-8 (and up!), called Duck and Cat Ride the Riverboat. It’s a funny, silly, slapstick story… but you don’t have to take my word for it! Badumm dum!

“Readers with a taste for grim, understated humor should gobble this one up.” —Publishers Weekly

“Supremely simple art accompanies a beginner-level text that manages to get quite a bit of humor and whimsy in; both words and images have a strong James Marshall vibe. . . . Crackers, crocodiles, and cut-ups abound in this delightful launch of a new easy-reading series.” —Kirkus Reviews

More to come on Duck and Cat – but for now, please consider preordering it for you or the book lover in your life!

Well, that’s it for this batch of Fresh Donuts. Thank you to each and every one of you out there who read this. Wishing you nothing but blue skies! - Drew P.